


Moon River

by Lady_Scarlet_of_the_Dells



Category: Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Fluff, M/M, Marauders, Romance, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-16
Updated: 2015-05-16
Packaged: 2018-03-30 20:58:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3951526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Scarlet_of_the_Dells/pseuds/Lady_Scarlet_of_the_Dells
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Writer Remus Lupin and his nameless cat move into the apartment above musician Sirius Black's. They make friends and it all goes from there... Inspired by/based on Breakfast At Tiffany's.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moon River

The first thing Remus did when he entered the apartment – after dropping the suitcases he'd lugged up the stairs by the door – was to open a window. It was noon, and midsummer; not a good day to be carrying all his worldly possessions up two flights of stairs. Already, after only the first trip, he was sweating through his shirt. He allowed himself to lean forward against the window frame to catch his breath, letting the breeze from the window cool him.

Outside, the sun outlined the rooftops in gold in front of a baby blue sky. The street below the window was lined with trees and cars, but was relatively quiet. Not a bad view, he decided; he'd be able to sit by the window to write, then. Closer to home, a rickety metal fire escape clung to the side of the building right outside the window, the ladder descending barely a step away from where he was standing on the other side of the wall. Somewhere close, someone was playing an acoustic guitar, though Remus couldn't be bothered to identify where the sound was coming from.

A quiet meow brought his thoughts back into the mostly empty apartment. 

“Cat,” he said, pushing away from the window and turning to the pile of belongings he'd abandoned on the floor. Kneeling, he opened the pet carried and fussed at the ginger cat that came out to greet him. “I'm sorry, I forgot about you. No, I don't have any food; it's still in the car. It's better we wait till your stomach settles, anyway – we've had a long journey, and we wouldn't want you throwing up in my new apartment, would we, now, Cat?” The cat escaped through his fingers to go and explore their new home; Remus stood, and, feeling recovered enough for now, went to fetch the next load of things.

He had just completed his third trip up the stairs when he heard shouts and banging from the window. The guitar playing had stopped. He went to the window, saw nothing out of the ordinary, and then realised the noise was coming from below him – at the bottom of the fire escape ladder was a window into the apartment below his. He was about to turn away – it was none of his business, after all – when a man came to the window carrying a rather familiar cat.

“Out! Go on, off with you!” the man said, dumping Cat unceremoniously onto the fire escape.

“Cat!” Remus called. “Here, Cat!”

The man looked up at him for the first time. He had unruly black curls which brushed his strong shoulders and the slight shadow of stubble over his jaw.

“This cat yours?” the man called up to him.

“Yeah,” Remus replied. “I'm very sorry. I'll make sure I keep the windows closed.”

“No, no, there's no need. I thought he was a stray. I like cats, just not strays. Padfoot doesn't like them, see.”

“Padfoot?”

“My dog.”

“Oh! Right.”

“Your cat have a name?”

“No, he's just called Cat.”

“You have a name? Or should I just call you Human?”

Remus smirked. “I'm Remus. I just moved in.”

“So I guessed. I'm Sirius.”

“I – I'm sorry?” Remus frowned.

“My name, it's Sirius – like the Dog Star.”

“You're named after a star?”

Sirius sighed. “I know, pretentious, right?”

“You may as well have been called Starry.”

Sirius threw his head back and laughed a sharp, barking laugh. 

“Um,” Remus said. “Would you, ah, like to come up and have a drink or something?”

Sirius shrugged. “Sure.”

Remus began to move away from the window, expecting Sirius to go inside and come up the stairs, but instead he clambered through his window, up the fire escape, and in through Remus' window.

“Wow, you have 'only just' moved in, haven't you?” he commented when he saw the pile of boxes and cases still sitting by the door.

“That's not even all of it, there's still more in the car.”

“Then what are we doing having a drink? I'll help you bring up the rest of your stuff.”

“Are you sure?”

Sirius grinned. It was a lopsided grin that revealed his teeth, which were meticulously straight except for one wonky one. “Sure, mate.”

He followed Remus out the door in bare feet; Remus expected them to stop at the door in the first floor hallway for Sirius to fetch some shoes, but they didn't. On the pavement outside, Sirius swore as pebbles pierced his feet. They reached Remus' car and Remus opened the boot. Sirius' eyes widened.

“I don't think I've ever known anyone who has this many books,” he said as they each reached for a box, grunting as they lifted them. “Don't tell me this isn't even all of them. This is the only time I'm ever helping you carry books, alright?” 

Remus was too busy trying to walk without dropping his beloved books everywhere to answer. They deposited their boxes next to the rest of Remus' stuff and went back downstairs. This time, Remus paused by what he assumed was Sirius' door. 

“D'you want to get a pair of shoes or something?”

“Nah, I'm fine,” Sirius insisted, continuing past him down the stairs. “To be honest, I left my keys in my flat. I'm locked out unless I go back through the window.”

Remus scoffed and mocked him for that, and they carried on fetching boxes – mostly of books – from Remus' car. They joked and laughed, and got everything into Remus' apartment twice as fast as Remus would have alone, but it felt even faster. When they were finally finished at mid-afternoon, they sat down on the floor.

“I'm sorry I have no furniture,” Remus said. “The moving van isn't getting here till tomorrow... Anyway, how about that drink? I have tea... if I can find my kettle...”

“Nah, you're alright. I don't drink tea.” Remus tried not to let his indignation at that show, though when Sirius smirked at him, he had a feeling he hadn't hid it as well as he thought he had. “If you'd like,” Sirius continued, “We can go downstairs. I have beers. And an actual sofa.”

“Sounds good.”

“Hey, and bring your cat, introduce him to Padfoot. Then he won't mind if he comes through my window again.”

“I am so sorry about.”

“No, it isn't a problem. I just wouldn't want Padfoot to attack him, that's all.”

They went out the window and down the fire escape, Cat hot on their heels. Sirius' flat was exactly the same shape and size as his was, and somehow both cluttered and tidy at the same time; while it was mostly clean and tidy, there was too much furniture for the small space. A sofa dominated the middle of the room, a TV perched on the wall facing it and a coffee table between the two. A huge beanbag sat in the space to the side of the sofa where Remus would expect an armchair to be. Behind the sofa was an electric piano in one corner – accompanied by a number of guitars and amps – and a desk with a laptop, an empty coffee mug and a scattering of papers that looked like sheet music on it in the other corner. A dog bed occupied by a huge husky-like dog took its place in between the two. A few pairs of shoes had been thrown down by the front door along with an umbrella, and an acoustic guitar lay across the sofa cushions. Potted plants were dotted at various points throughout the room.

Remus followed Sirius into the cramped kitchen and read the notes on stuck to the fridge as he fetched their drinks. Sirius moved the guitar from the sofa to the coffee table and they sat down, beers in hand.

“How long have you played guitar?”

Sirius shrugged. “Since I was about sixteen I think.”

“Wow, that's a while... hey, was it you who was playing earlier? I could hear someone playing through the window when I first got here...”

“Yeah, that was probably me.”

“You were really good.”

“Thanks. Then I guess you won't mind me playing at ridiculous times of night,” Sirius joked, grinning his lopsided grin that Remus found rather contagious.

“No, I genuinely wouldn't,” Remus said. “I like having background noise when I'm writing at ridiculous times of night.”

“You write?”

“Yeah, for a living. Novels, short stories, poetry...”

“That's so cool.”

“What do you do?”

“I'm a musician.”

Remus chuckled. “I guess I shouldn't be surprised,” he said, glancing over at the piano and the row of guitars. Sirius laughed. 

They talked for what seemed like an hour or so, although when Remus looked outside halfway through his third pint, it had gone dark outside. At some point, Sirius had picked his acoustic guitar up off the coffee table and begun strumming it absently as they talked, plucking random tunes until the strings rang with something he liked the sound of, and then he played variations of the same tune over and over again, adding notes and changing notes without seeming to think about it. Remus noticed that Sirius had tattoos on both his wrists – words, though he never looked for long enough to read what they said – and his right forearm was covered in scrawled reminders. All the while, Cat roamed around Sirius' apartment, jumping on everything. When Padfoot got up to confront him, barking, Cat stood his ground and batted him away with one paw. After that they mostly ignored each other.

It was almost midnight when Remus checked his watch.

“I didn't realise how late it is,” he said, draining the last dregs of his beer and setting the glass down on the coffee table. “I'd better get going, I'm so sorry I've kept you so long.” He stood. “Cat! Here! Cat!”

Sirius put down his guitar and stood as Remus waited for his cat to reveal himself and come to him.

“Didn't you say the moving van's coming tomorrow?” Sirius asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Well, you have no furniture. Where are you gonna sleep?”

“Oh, I have blankets, and a sleeping bag, somewhere. Maybe I'll sleep in the car if the bedroom carpet isn't comfy.”

“Don't be ridiculous. You can sleep on my sofa.”

“Nonsense, I have a perfectly good flat just upstairs where I can sleep.”

“In my book, a 'perfectly good' flat usually has furniture in it. Take my sofa tonight. I mean, obviously don't take my sofa, I'm rather fond of it, but... Honestly, Remus, I'm serious.”

“And here I was thinking your name was Starry all evening.”

Sirius laughed sharply, then turned and walked into his bedroom. He came back a few seconds later with a pillow and a couple of blankets.

“I insist,” he said, holding them out to Remus. Remus hesitated, then took the blankets.

“Thank you,” he said, smiling. “I mean it.”

“Not a problem. The bathroom's just through that door there. Goodnight, Remus.”

“Goodnight, Starry.”

Sirius sniggered, shook his head and went back into his bedroom with Padfoot at his heels, closing the door behind him. Remus left the blankets on the sofa and slipped out the window, then returned a few minutes later in his pyjamas. He was just lying down when he heard a voice from Sirius' room, then the door opened, Cat flew into the room, and the door slammed shut again. Remus rolled his eyes.

“So that's where you've been,” he muttered, dangling his arm over the edge of the sofa. “Here, Cat!”

Cat padded across the room, jumped on his chest, and curled up. They fell asleep like that.

Both human and feline rose early the next morning, and when Sirius got up, he found only a pillow and a pile of neatly folded blankets on his sofa.

**Author's Note:**

> My first wolfstar fic, and my first AO3 fic! :) I was planning on this being a one-chapter thing, because it's exam season at uni so I'm a bit busy... So I may not update until June, sorry! :)


End file.
